Chicago Holiday
by Buffy2204
Summary: Fraser arrives at work and finds a new Constable on guard. FraserMeg
1. Chapter 1

Constable Benton Fraser hopped up the Consulate's steps to the front entrance. He wasn't needed for anything specific that day but he had some papers to sign and a report to write up so he felt the need to drop in before he made his way to the station to meet Ray. Tipping his hat towards Turnball on guard Fraser opened the doors to the consulate to find Turnbull at the desk. Ruffling his eyebrows in confusion Fraser poked his head around the door to look at the Constable on guard. It wasn't Turnball as was usual but a woman in her late twenties, standing guard, unblinking. She wasn't anywhere near as tall as Turnbull nor did she have the same build, it should have been obvious to Fraser that this wasn't Turnbull but in his rush to complete the paper-work he hadn't realised.

"Are you ok, Constable Fraser?" Turnbull asked as he popped to his feet with a big grin on his face. He was obviously happy to get the morning off guard-duty. Fraser stopped staring at the new Constable and whipped his head round to find that Turnbull was very much in his personal space. It seemed that Turnball was trying to look at what had caught Fraser's attention by looking over his shoulder thus leaning heavily on Fraser's back.

"Turnbull…" Fraser started.

"Oh, right, sorry, sir," Turnbull chirped and immediately took a step away to stand next to the desk. Fraser closed the door and moved to look at the bubbling Mountie.

"Turnbull, who is that?"

"Who is what, sir?"

Fraser sighed and rubbed his eyebrow in exasperation, it was going to be one of those conversations. "Never mind Turnbull," He turned around and started to head to office when Turnbull made an excited chirp in the back of his throat to get Fraser's attention.

"Oh!" Turnbull called "Inspector Thatcher would like to see you when you come in!"

"I am in, Turnbull,"

"I know,"

"So I should go and see her now," Fraser explained and stopped his journey to his office to head towards the Inspectors.

"That's what I said,"

"Thank you Turnbull,"

"Your welcome, sir"

Fraser approached the Inspectors door. He doesn't know why but he always gets this nagging ominous feeling when he meets this door. He should have brought Deif along instead of leaving him at the apartment; he would have felt better with the wolf at his side, not that he'd ever tell Deif that, it'd go straight to his head. He clenched his fist and rapped a couple of sharp knocks on the wooden panels.

"Come in," he heard her voice bark from inside.

A little hesitantly he clutched the handle and opened the door. Fraser ran through all the possible reasons why the Inspector would want him in there. He hadn't damaged anything, he hadn't turned up late recently and Ray and he had not caused any trouble in a couple of weeks.

"You wanted to see me, sir?" he said as he shut the door and went to stand in front of her desk. Fraser caught the end of her attempt to hide her glasses in her drawer; he smiled but quickly wiped the look from his face and looked at her.

"Yes Constable," she said making sure that her hair was flat by running her fingers through it. "We have a new addition to the staff,"

"The woman outside, sir?"

"Yes, she has been transferred from Ottawa, she arrived yesterday. It seems she got into a bit of trouble with an Inspector there and he sent her down here for punishment,"

"What did she do?" Fraser asked puzzled. She seemed perfectly normal outside, although, you can't really tell when someone is on guard duty.

"She uh…" Thatcher rifled through the papers until she got to the appropriate page and smiled. "…glued Inspector Georgas to his seat,"

"Is that all, sir?" Fraser asked. It didn't seem like the sort of thing you would send someone to another country for.

"No," the Inspector smiled "She also… poured coffee on his lap, managed to get chewing gum in his hair and accidentally set fire to a fellow officer."

"Wel...It still doesn't seem... all that bad..." Fraser said unsure if he wanted to go near this new officer.

"All in the same day, on her first day on the job," Inspector Thatcher grinned evilly. "I was happy to give her a station here,"

"You were?" There was something in the way the Inspector's eyes glinted that made Fraser nervous. She had made him nervous before but that was a good nervous, this was not a good nervous.

"She's your responsibility; she reports directly to you, you give her orders. The only time she comes to me is if you are unavailable."

Fraser visibly gulped "Oh dear"


	2. Chapter 2

"May I ask, sir, what's her name?" Fraser inquired.

"Oh," Thatcher said picking up the files again and looking at the front page. "Constable Sila… Silatuk? Silatuyook…. Constable Williams," the Inspector said matter of factly.

"May I, sir?" Fraser said indicating the file.

"Yes, take it with you," Thatcher said and handed him the file, she returned back behind her desk gracefully. "Dismissed, Constable," She said and looked back to her work.

"Yes, sir," Fraser said smiling "Are you wearing perfume, sir?" he said as an afterthought.

"Well…I thought I'd…experiment," Thatcher mumbled.

"It's very nice, sir," he said and closed the door behind him. Meg smiled discreetly and rubbed her neck shyly.

Fraser walked down the hall to his office, passing Turnball preening as usual. Fraser rubbed the small coffee stain on the corner of the file with the flat of his thumb in the hopes of neatening it, but to no avail. He opened the file as he sat down at his desk and placed it on the tabletop in front of him.

_Constable Silatuyok Williams. 5 foot 9 inches._

Stationed at Burns Lake in the British Columbia then moved to Ottawa, to Toronto and back to Ottawa again.

It's funny. To Fraser she didn't seem like she was Inuit when he saw her outside. In fact she looked completely the opposite of what would class as Inuit inherited features yet her name suggested otherwise. Her surname was unusually standard which may suggest that a distant relative could have been native but her blonde hair and bright blue eyes told him that she could have had no such relatives.

Fraser stood up from his desk and walked outside to find Turnball.

"Constable," Fraser said when he found him arranging his pencils in order of size. Turnball jumped and pencils flew in all directions.

"Yes," Turnball said brightly.

"You wouldn't happen to know when Constable Williams shift ends, would you?"

"Yes, I do!" Turnball said immensely pleased with himself. He scooted over to the computer and tapped a few keys "She is off at… 12, sir,"

"Thank you, Turnball," Fraser said. That gave him an hour and five minutes to find out what to do with her.


	3. Chapter 3

_I'm sorry, I seem to be having differculty writing this one. They'll be short chapters but I'll keep at it._

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* * *

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Fraser strode outside the consulate and winced as the pungent smells of Chicago wafted up his nostrils. He would never get used to it.

He stopped at the top of the steps to stare down at the motionless enigma. She was showing perfect stance, head forward, shoulders back, staring straight ahead. She showed the mark of someone with practice; it was truly something to be marvelled at. Some might scoff but Fraser believed that, although subtle, there was a skill to guard duty. He had never really possessed it himself, even though Ray thought it was peculiar how he could stay that still, Constable Williams made him look like an amateur.

"Hey Benny! You just gonna stand there or what?" Ray Vecchio shouted from inside the Riv. He must have pulled up without Fraser noticing. Strange. It wasn't like the Mountie to miss something, let alone the roaring engine and the screeching tyres of the Riv.

Fraser plodded down the steps and let himself take one quick glance at Williams before facing Ray.

"I'm sorry, Ray," Fraser explained as slid into the car seat. He placed his hat on the dashboard and did his seatbelt "My mind seems preoccupied,"

"Yeah I don't blame your mind, Fraser," Ray smirked "She's attractive," The car pulled out into the street in its usual graceless manner, swerving to avoid collision. Fraser internally fumed for a split second until he realised that it was Ray driving.

"Who's attractive?" Fraser questioned.

"That woman you were goggling, Benny!" Ray chuckled. "If you're going to stare, at least do it discreetly,"

"I wasn't 'goggling', Ray," Fraser said indignantly "I was…observing,"

"Yeah sure, Benny," Ray rapped his fingers against the steering wheel and shuffled in his seat with an annoying grin on his face.

They sat in silence. Fraser coughed and put a disgruntled look on his face to hint to Ray to wipe the look of his face. Unfortunately, Americans don't seem to be good at subtleties Fraser had found.

"All right, if you must know, Ray," Fraser said.

"I must,"

"I've been made him superior, I am responsible for her and I have no idea what to do with her," Fraser said. "She's obviously had bad luck with commanding officers before with bad results and I don't want her to feel like I've failed her,"

"_You _have been put in charge of _another person_," Ray laughed "You can hardly take care of yourself,"

"Well that's not entirely fair, Ray,"


	4. Chapter 4

"Seriously, dragon lady put _you_ in charge of _her_," Ray snorted and closed his eyes in silent laughter.

Fraser didn't react he knew it would just make it worse. "Ray, Ray, Ray, Ray,"

"What?"

"Keep your eyes on the road,"

"Oh thanks," he said and swerved to narrowly miss a car. "So…what you going to do?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Fraser sulked.

"Fine," Ray said "Fraser stop sulking it doesn't suit you,"

"I'm not sulking, Ray"

OoOoOoOoO

The morning passed without event. Ray was doing paperwork and the Mountie had nothing much to do but watch and point out typing mistakes much to Ray's delight. They planned to leave at 11:30 and arrive at the consulate by the end of Constable Williams shift. Fraser would give her something to do and then the pair would move on to investigate a missing person case.

They sat in uncomfortable silence for awhile. Ray smirking and Fraser silently (as was his way) frothing to a good boil.

"I could get her to do my reports," Fraser said eventually.

"You could," Ray said indifferently.

"But, it's not very stimulating or well….fun,"

"She's being _punished_, Benny, it's not meant to be 'fun',"

"Yes, of course," Fraser said troubled "but she should at least be challenged,"

Ray stopped typing and turned to look at Fraser. "Look Benny, from what you've told me, she's a trouble child," he said "You get them in every force, she probably only joined because of her parents or something and now…she's rebelling,"

"You think so?" Fraser pondered.

"I know so," Ray said certainly and went back to typing.

"Well, that makes it even more important for me to find something interesting for her to do,"

"What?"

OoOoOoOoOoO

"I hope you have something in mind, Benny because I ain't got all day," Ray said as he pulled up in front of the consulate. It was a few minutes before Constable Williams shift ended and she was still standing in the same place as if no time had passed.

"I do, Ray," Fraser said positively. He stepped out of the car, placed his Stetson atop of his head and strode towards her, taking a glance at his watch as he did so. Two minutes left.

He stood in front of her and looked at her face. She really was very good-looking. She had a strong jaw but soft eyes that sparkled in the sunlight like water would. The blue was deep and penetrating that almost matched Fraser's colour.

"Constable Williams," Fraser addressed her. "I am Constable Benton Fraser, I have been asked to watch over you…I mean to guide…to uh over-see your short stay here," he had barely said a sentence and already her steely blue gaze was intimidating him. She barely reached his chin.


	5. Chapter 5

The bell chimed and instantly a sly smirk appeared on her face, she blinked.

"Yes sir," she said earnestly.

"Now I suppose you would like to know what your duties are to be," Fraser said "I'm afraid the consulate is made up of mostly paperwork apart from what you are doing here, so I'm…"

"HEY! HEY! Stop!" At the cries both Mounties heads snapped round to catch the tail end of a purse-snatcher whipping round the corner of an alley with a blue handbag and a woman waving her hands indignantly, her face red and stamping her foot so hard it looked like it hurt.

Before Fraser even reacted the young Constable had darted off. She was fast and had got to the corner before Fraser had got halfway there. Ray mumbled something about 'Mounties' and pulled out into the road to follow in his car. He screeched around in a U-turn to get to the other side of the alley.

Fraser got to the corner to see a flash of red jumping around another corner to the left. He followed as quickly as he could through the alley into another, stopping slightly to indicate to Ray in the Riv which way they were going.

They passed into a longer alleyway, Fraser noted they quite a way ahead of him so he speed up to keep pace with Williams, she didn't seem to notice his presence.

"Hey! Get lost! Crazy Doormen!" the thief shrieked at the surprise of being so heavily pursued. He ducked down a smaller narrower passageway and speed up, Fraser closely behind but the thief wasn't tiring. Ben took a look behind him to check on Williams to find she wasn't there. Well, she's useful.

Fraser chased the purse-thief into a passage connected to the main road. He was obviously trying to loose Fraser in the crowded street. However before he could even make it Ray pulled up in the Riv outside the alley.

"STOP! CHICAGO PD!" Ray yelled holding out his badge.

The thief's eyes grew large and he skidded to a halt and turned around to see Fraser coming up behind him. He spotted the fire escape to his right and pulled himself up the ladder. He laughed at the two men below him as he took away the ladder only to head up the stairs and meet Constable Williams.

"It would be advisable just to give up now," she said matter-of-factly.

"No way! Get out of my way or I'll make you!" he said threateningly. She smiled and nodded to her left to indicate Ray pointing a gun in his direction. "Oh," he said discouraged.

"Well done, Constable Williams," Fraser said "Could you pass down the ladder?"

"You! Don't move!" Ray growled menacingly still brandishing his weapon at the thief as she moved to get the ladder. She put the ladder in place then grabbed the perpetrator's jacket and shoved him in front of her.

"After you," she said sweetly.

"Ladies first," he spat.

"No really, I insist," she snarled and pushed him off the fire escape into a pile of rubbish below. "Oops," she said calmly and climbed down the ladder while Ray handcuffed the angry crook.

"HEY! She pushed me! Police brutality!" he screamed.

"You wanna see police brutality? Just keep talking, moron!" Ray yelled at him.


	6. Chapter 6

"She's not so bad, Fraser," Ray said as they walked towards the doors of the precinct. Fraser often marvelled at how Ray could continue a perfectly casual conversation and drag a moaning lump of criminal towards the door of a police station. "She's a pretty good runner and she sounded polite in the car,"

Constable Williams had insisted that she accompany them to the station to make sure they didn't have any trouble with the thief. She claimed she liked to see the job done. She had been polite…to Ray and Fraser but Fraser wasn't so convinced by the way she had handled the perp. They had left her in the car with Dief.

"That doesn't excuse her behaviour before," Fraser said grumpily, if you were anyone but Ray you wouldn't notice his mood.

"What behaviour? She acted perfectly," Ray said as he opened the doors and pushed the thief through.

"Except when she pushed the young man,"

"It's true! It's true! I think I'm developing a bruise!" the miscreant perked up.

"Shut up, Moron!" Ray shouted. "Can you book this guy, please?" he asked the nearest cop. As soon as the offender was out of the door Ray turned to Fraser. "Look this kid just needs something to challenge her…like you said before,"

Fraser frowned slightly "I suppose you know what I should with her then," He was a bit apprehensive when a smirk appeared on Ray's face.

"She could tag along with us for the day, help us catch the bad guys," Ray said as if it was the best idea in the world.

"Ray, I don't think-"

"Come on, Benny, it'll be great," Ray said "Can't have too many Mounties," he chuckled as he made his way out the door back to the Riv.

"I just don't want to get her in a situation where-"Fraser said desperately.

"Oh come on, Benny!" Ray said "Lighten up,"

"I don't think Inspector That-"

"What Dragon Lady doesn't know won't hurt her,"

"I'm sure Inspector Thatcher will realise-"

"She'll never notice,"

"Ray!" Fraser shouted in an attempt to stop Ray interrupting him "It's not a question on whether the Inspector will notice, she is my superior officer and I don't think she'll approve of me taking this young woman on dangerous escapades,"

"Where is she?" Ray asked suddenly puzzled.

"Well I expect she's working at the Consulate," His thoughts entirely elsewhere.

"Not your beloved Inspector, Fraser!" Ray said "The other attractive female Mountie," he pointed his finger towards the Riv.

Fraser looked passed Ray to take in the sight of an empty 1971 Buick Riviera. No Dief. No Mountie.

"Oh dear,"


	7. Chapter 7

_I'm hoping against _hope_ that these chapters will get longer and some plot will arise. My writing tends to be slightly unpredictable. Thanks for all your reviews. They make my day._

Fraser turned and looked at Ray with an expression that spoke volumes. It said, very clearly that Fraser was upset, worried, guilty, extremely tired and somehow, it was entirely the detective's fault.

"Oh, Come on!" Ray said indignantly reacting to the accusatory look on his friends face. "You can't possibly blame this on me,"

Fraser didn't respond and as far as Ray was concerned he didn't need to, those usually warm blue eyes had turned icy cold and were boring into him. "Okay," Ray said dejectedly "Maybe… you were…" The words, although simple, were suddenly very hard for Ray to pronounce or even think.

"Yes Ray?" Fraser said expectantly.

"Maybe you were rrrr…rrrrrrriii…"

"Is there something you would like to say, Ray?" Fraser encouraged with a smug smile. That little quirk of the Mountie's lips did it. There was no way Ray was going to admit Fraser was right. The words would not pass his lips. Ever. His face crinkled into an unfriendly scowl.

"Forget it, Fraser; I'm not going to do it." Ray headed for his car and got his keys out ready to unlock it.

"Do what, Ray?"

"You know, what," Ray said turning the key and opening the door for Fraser to climb in. "It's a matter of principle now,"

"Understood," Fraser said as he settled himself in the front seat. Ray slammed the door on him. Sometimes that Mountie could really get on his nerves. He walked around the hood of the car to the driver's side.

"No! I don't think you do understand, Fraser," Ray said. How could Fraser possibly understand? Ray, himself wasn't even sure why he wanted to prove Fraser wrong. "This women has good intentions, you'll see, Fraser," Ray opened the door to the drivers side and got in.

"I'm sorry, Ray, did you say something?" an innocent look clouded the Mounties features.

"Just shut up and look out for Constable Williams," Ray said "She can't have gone far,"

After ten minutes of driving, the detective's patience was starting to wear thin. This was stupid. This is meant to be Fraser's job, believing in people! How did he get through a day? It was exasperating.

"This is crazy!" Ray shouted, thumping his fist against the steering wheel. "We're looking for a white wolf and a lady dressed up in a bright red suit, how hard could it be?"

"She's highly skilled, Ray," Fraser said calmly "If she did not wish to be found, we wont find it easy,"

"Hey!" Ray said pointing a threatening finger at Fraser "She wants to be found,"

"Ray-"

"No! Fraser, sometimes you just have to admit that you can make a mistake-"

"Ray-"

"We will find her because she'll be in an obvious place-"

"Ray-"

Ray stopped the car at the traffic lights and took the opportunity to turn towards Fraser. "Why are you against this woman, Fraser?"

"Ray-"

"No let me finish-" Ray stopped startled as Fraser took the detective's face in his hands and pointed it in the direction of the people crossing the road. Right there in front of them was Constable Williams, Dief and the old woman they were helping across the street. "Oh,"


	8. Chapter 8

_Thank you for the review, Virago, short and to the point. I had no choice but to comply. :)_

Before Ray could gloat about the fact that Constable Williams did not appear to be doing anything wrong (I mean how many times had he turned around to find Fraser missing because some person urgently needed his help) Fraser had already burst from the car. Something about this new Constable had put the usually calm Mountie on edge. Was it just her behaviour? Or just the fact that Fraser couldn't comprehend why a person would want to make trouble for no reason.

Maybe Fraser had finally found someone who got on his nerves just as much as Fraser got on Ray's. Ray virtually skipped from the car with a big grin plastered across his face as he watched Fraser approach Constable Williams.

"Constable, we need to return to the Consulate now," Fraser said coldly "We are already behind schedule,"

Ray winced; it was reprimanding, Canadian style. Constable Williams, on her part, didn't look at all pleased as Fraser took her arm and lead her to the car. She very deftly tugged her arm out of his grasp and stormed ahead to where Ray held the car door open for her.

"Thank you kindly, Detective," she said sweetly and moved into the car while Ray closed the door on her.

"What's up with you, Benny?" he said as Fraser came closer. "I've never seen you so riled up before about someone,"

"I don't know what you mean, Ray,"

"I think you do,"

Fraser stopped in the process of opening the Riv door and closed it again so the occupant inside the car couldn't hear (much to the annoyance of the people behind them). "As a member of the RCMP she should display the sort of behaviour that should set an example to the public,"

"So, just because she's a Mountie, you're being harder on her?"

"Yes,"

"That doesn't make sense!" Ray couldn't argue any longer because Fraser had opened the car door and resolutely sat in his seat, communicating that the conversation was over. "I'm right," Ray said to himself as he himself settled in the car and drove off.

The car journey was spent in a steely silence. Fraser was reeling and he didn't know why. He knew Ray was right. He'd never admit it though, that would play right into the detective's hands. She just _infuriated _him and the way Ray stood up for her only increased Fraser's unease. It's not that he didn't trust Ray to judge character, if she wasn't a Mountie he would agree with his partner. Fraser had never experienced it before but he was becoming more and more certain that it was a "personality clash". He was certain she felt it too.

Ray pulled up outside the Consulate and turned to look at both passengers. They in turn looked at him. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to leave you two here, I have a missing person's case I have to attend to," Fraser couldn't accompany him on this one as he already had his hands full will the rebellious little Mountie. "Fraser, will you be free later on to help?"

"Certainly, Ray,"

"Why can't we help now?" Williams piped up. Fraser sent her what Ray swore was a glare. It was almost funny to see Fraser glaring at someone, it happened so rarely. Sensing his hostility she added a "Sir," Fraser's features softened.

He could tell she was trying to conformal now. Maybe this is why she had been in so much trouble, she just didn't know how not to be confrontational. "Inspector Thatcher has given me explicit instructions not to get you in trouble,"

"I won't be in trouble," she said, forgetting the 'sir'.

"Chicago is a dangerous city, now there is plenty of paperwork-"

"Paperwork!" she fumed "We're policemen, we solve crimes, we don't fill out forms,"

"We work at a consulate, we're not meant to be solving crimes in this situation,"

"Then what are you doing hanging around with a Chicago detective, catching purse-thieves?"

"She has a point, you know," Ray said, getting out of the car so Williams could get out too. Fraser followed their lead.

"I do that in my spare time,"

She turned to him and opened her mouth but nothing came out, obviously at a loss for a comeback "mmlaaaahhhhhh!" she shouted, she spun around on her heel and stormed up the steps to the consulate.

Fraser stood, puzzled. "That doesn't even _mean_ anything!" he shouted incensed and followed her up the steps.

"Good luck, Benny!" Ray called as he drove away.


	9. Chapter 9

_I have made a change, a prize to the first one who guesses what it is._

Inspector Thatcher stood in the hallway of consulate as she searched through the files Turnbull had 'organised' on the front desk. She will never be able to understand his filing system, she would've ordered somebody else to do the filing (Fraser probably) ages ago if it wasn't for the fact that, on non-busy days, she quite enjoyed trying sort out the mess. Unfortunately, today was a hectic day and she was not in the mood.

"Turnbull!" she straightened up from shuffling through the desk and bellowed at the top of her voice.

Turnbull appeared with a slightly terrified look on his face, almost like a rabbit in the face of a hungry fox. "Yes, sir,"

"Could you _please_…" She trailed off with a sound wafted in through the open windows. Two voices…shouting. "Is that…?" one voice was familiar.

"It's Constable Fraser, sir," Turnbull whispered in an awed voice.

"Is he…?" she whispered back.

"Shouting, sir," he whispered.

"Does he sound…?" she whispered.

"Angry, sir?" Turnbull whispered then gulped as the voices drew nearer. Meg was going to reply when she realised she had been whispering in the same little voice Turnbull had.

"Yes! Stop whispering Turnbull and stand up straight," she shouted and made Turnbull jump out of skin and stop himself slowly edging around the desk as though it would protect him from whatever might come through the Consulate doors.

"I just don't think it would be appropriate for your first day here!" Fraser's voice or a distortion of Fraser's voice anyway, arrived at the door way.

"Oh stop being such a goody-two-shoes!" a female voice introduced Constable Williams as she slammed open the doors of the Consulate and stormed towards Thatcher.

If Meg was a weaker woman she probably would have quailed but being as she was, Thatcher grew angry. How dare this woman talk to her Constable like that? Who did she think she is? Williams stopped in front of Meg and smiled.

"Inspector Thatcher, permission to speak freely, ma'am?"

At that moment Fraser slammed open the door that was still closing in Williams' wake. He was ready to shout when he caught sight of the Inspector straightening up to her full height in front of the wayward Constable, this brought her only a couple of inches taller than Williams but it seemed to give her the confidence to address both of them.

"No you may not," Thatcher said to Williams. "It seems you have done enough free speaking for one day,"

Williams looked like she might open her mouth to argue and Turnbull started to get increasingly worried. Fortunately Turnbull's mental state was saved when Williams thought better of it and shut her mouth again.

"Constable Fraser, Constable Williams, come to my office immediately," Thatcher barked and turned around to head to office herself.

Constable Williams sent Fraser a look that could kill if it wasn't the fact Fraser was sending one that was equally dangerous.

"TURNBULL!" All three Constables jumped at the brash sound of Thatcher's yell. She had turned to face Turnbull as an afterthought.

"Yes sir," he squeaked.

"Find me those Austrian files,"


	10. Chapter 10

Meg looked at the two Mounties in front of her, both standing attention, both with emotionless faces, ready for whatever their commanding officer threw at them. She was shocked at first, it is so unlike Fraser to shout or lose his temper but then she remembered that Fraser is human just like every other man. Boy, did she know that… Unsure how to tackle this problem she fell back on her default setting.

She stared at them.

And stared.

"If I may, sir…" Fraser began.

"No," Meg said and continued staring.

Fraser had an increasing sense of his throat drying. His palms grew sweaty and his collar suddenly became too tight. The usual symptoms to being in the company of Meg Thatcher but now there was a definite edge of fear that made his heart beat just that little bit faster.

"The behaviour you two displayed both inside and outside the consulate is unacceptable," Thatcher stated coldly.

"I can't work with this man," Williams said matter-of-factly.

"That is not for you to decide-"

"I refuse to work with him,"

"I refuse to work with _her_," Fraser interrupted "She is confrontational, inconsiderate, disobedient-"

"I have not disobeyed _one_ order you have given me, you have this unfair idea that everyone should be as perfect as you,"

"RCMP officers as well as representatives of Canada in a foreign country should behave-" Fraser's voice raised slightly through gritted teeth.

"Oh not that lark again…"

Meg Thatcher looked at both of them, they had seemed to forgotten that she was even there. They were still both staring forward expressionless. The only indication of their feelings was there raised voices as the argument continued.

"It is not lark, it is-"

"You don't actually _believe_ what they drilled into you at training, did you?" Williams said in a mocking voice.

"Have you considered that not listening to what they said in training is what brought you to your current situation?"

"Are you implying that I didn't listen to basic training?" Williams said forgetting about propriety and looking at Fraser. The other Constable said nothing. "You self-righteous, egotistical b-"

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Thatcher cut in. Both Constables snapped to attention again. "You _both_ shall do as _I_ say. You shall work together. Constable Williams will report to Constable Fraser. You be _civil, both_ of you. If I catch a hint of an argument between you, both of you will be on sentry duty for the next _month._"

At that portentous threat both Constable eyes widened in pleading and Meg enjoyed it.

"Do I make myself clear?" she asked.

"Yes, sir," they chorused.

"Dismissed,"

It was a mad rush for the door. Both Constables terrified. Once outside it was a matter of Fraser getting his breathing under control. He annoyed Meg terribly, it wasn't fair. He had tried once to not cause trouble for her for a whole week, he had almost made it. On the seventh day he used the consulate to house a couple of puppies he found abandoned out on the street. Well, somehow they had gotten into her office…

This was his time to prove that he wasn't a blithering, untrustworthy subordinate. He wouldn't fight with Williams any more. He turned to look at Williams and she looked at him. She started laughing. It wasn't mocking as he thought it would be, it was cheerful as if she were sharing a joke with him.

"That was fun, eh?" She said and started off down the corridor.

"I'm afraid I don't follow," Fraser said feeling the anger bubble at the pit of his stomach again.

"She got so mad," Williams chuckled. "You should have seen your face when she yelled, it was priceless,"

"You're being childish," Fraser said. "My office is this way," he directed her with a wave of his hand.

"Oh, ok," she said "So when are we going to help your detective friend?"

"There is no 'we', _I_ am going to help my detective friend once _you_ leave for the day,"

"Oh you're kidding," she whined "You _meant_ that?"

"Yes,"


	11. Chapter 11

They actually did quite well for the rest of the afternoon, in Fraser's opinion. She seemed to listen to at least one voice of authority and that satisfied Fraser for a few hours, just being in the same room as her didn't appear to be such a task anymore. That didn't mean he liked her! ... She was just more tolerable. And so he sat. Quite content, filling out reports and signing documents until his fingers were numb and she did the same. Over the _other_ side of the room.

Threads of her hair wisped in front of her face as she lent into the paper to concentrate, she bit her tongue gently and a small grin twitched the corners of lips. She was obviously rapt on the document in front of her. With eyes squinting, she dotted the last sentence she had written. She was concentrating….

On signing her name….

On stock reports….

Something was wrong.

Looking at her with an intense glare, Fraser rubbed his ear and cleared his throat. Her head shot up and she grinned sweetly.

Something was defiantly wrong.

"What are you doing?" he asked with a dangerous tone.

"Signing stock reports, sir," she said pleasantly.

He couldn't press further without any more proof that she was doing something wrong but that didn't stop the nagging feeling in the back of his mind. However, without going over and taking the paper off her, there was nothing he could do but carry on with his own paperwork. He glanced at the clock hanging on the wall, only one more hour.

He signed a couple of reports with a pleased flick of his pen and put another few pieces of paper into the outbox. Just another few and he'll have a break.

The sound of the scratching of a pen invaded his ears. He looked up willing himself to be calm and looked in her direction…

She was scribbling. Frantically.

"Williams?" he questioned with a raise of his eyebrow.

She startled and immediately covered her paper with her arms guiltily. "Yes sir?"

"What are you doing?"

"Nothing,"

"Can I see?"

"No,"

"Why not?"

She shifted uncomfortably. "It's personal,"

"It's a _stock report_,"

"A woman's stock report is dear to her," she said huffily "It's something I wouldn't expect you to understand,"

"Give it here," he holding out his hand.

"No,"

"Give it!"

"No,"

"Williams," he growled.

"Fraser," she said mocking his tone.

He pounced from his desk and her eyes went wide. She hurriedly dodged his lurch for the paper and jumped over the other side of the desk. He made a lunge for the paper while she attempting to hold over her head but his superior height gave him advantage. She realised this and hopped onto the desk itself.

Fraser sighed and rubbed his eyebrow. "Hand me the paper,"

"Why do you want it?"

He jumped to try and snatch it…and that's when Thatcher opened the door to his office.

She looked shocked for a second then she closed her mouth and glared at the two of them. "I'll come back later," she said and closed the door again.


End file.
